Sunday, March 20, 2016

Palm Sunday 2016

Holy Week Begins

The palm fronds we are given at Mass today are for a ceremonial reenactment of Jesus's arrival in Jerusalem just days before his crucifixion and death.

The palms we receive today will be returned to the church next year, to be burned to provide ashes for Ash Wednesday 2017. In the meantime, they are typically displayed somewhere in the home. In my case, my palm frond will be placed behind the crucifix near the door to my apartment.

In other action, the Catholic schools went 1-1 on the day. Providence got blown out by No. 1-seeded North Carolina, but No. 11-seeded Gonzaga upset No. 3 seed Utah.

Today Xavier, Villanova, Notre Dame, and St. Joseph's will all play for a chance to be part of the Sweet Sixteen. Only St. Joseph's (who faces No. 1-seeded Oregon) is not the higher-seeded team in their game today.

Tech Nostalgia

From the droll comic strip FoxTrot, by Bill Amend, which you should read every Sunday, as I do. This one first appeared on April 13, 2003.

[Note: If you don't get the joke, it's because you don't remember these, of which I was an owner. I also owned one of these.]

Until Next Time...

The Latin text, which is based on an epistle of St. Paul, has been set to music
by many different composers. Austrian composer Anton Bruckner set the traditional chant to music three different times. The third of these, a motet for SATB choir a cappella in D minor, is my personal favorite.

Today's send-off is a live concert performance of the Bruckner piece by the Dutch group Vocaal ensemble Cantando. It was recorded on Valentine's Day in 2011. Enjoy...

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